“Over the past week, our #IamCharleston campaign has seen a tremendous outpouring of more than 10,000 messages of love and support for the community of Mother Emanuel and Charleston. We have also seen an outpouring of outrage that it is still so easy in our nation for dangerous people to buy guns. In most states, including South Carolina, a felon, a fugitive or a domestic abuser can walk into a gun show or go online and buy a gun without the Brady background check that would stop them at a licensed dealer.

“It is finally time for Congress to wake up and do right by the American people they have been elected to represent and put our lives and safety ahead of the interests of the corporate gun lobby. It is time for Congress to expand lifesaving Brady background checks to all gun sales now. Ninety percent of the American people support this measure. It does not impact the right of a law-abiding citizen to buy a gun. It keeps guns out of the hands of the dangerous people that we all agree should not have them.

“Since the original Brady Law was implemented in 1994, Brady background checks have blocked more than 2.4 million gun sales to prohibited purchasers like felons, fugitives, domestic abusers and dangerously mentally ill. Countless lives have been saved as a result. The problem is, in most states, those background checks are not yet conducted on sales at gun shows or online, resulting in thousands of gun sales every day to Lord knows who.

“We are encouraged by the words we are hearing from Minority Leader Reid and Senators Manchin and Toomey. But we need more than words. We need action. We need Congress to vote and we need them to vote now. Every day we wait, more guns get into dangerous hands and more lives are lost as a result. That is why we have launched a petition, "#IamCharleston: I demand a vote NOW!”

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The mission of the Brady organization is to create a safer America for all of us that will lead to a dramatic reduction in gun deaths and injuries. For more insight on gun violence prevention, follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BradyBuzz.